Eclat Industries Inc.
Welcome to Eclat Industries Inc.! Eclat's Quality Section


Medical
Since it was introduced to the medical device industry in the late 1980's, physical vapor deposition (PVD) has become widely used to deposit wear-resistant thin-film coatings on a variety of medical devices including orthopedic implants, pacemakers, surgical instruments, orthodontic appliances, and dental instruments. The value of PVD technology rests in its ability to modify the surface of properties of a device without changing the underlying material properties and biomechanical functionality.
PVD coatings provide a number of benefits to medical devices in addition to hardness and adhesion.
The most significant are as follows:
-improved wear resistance
-reduced friction
-biocompatability
-chemical barrier
-decorative colors and aesthetic

Aviation
NASA pioneered the use of vacuum-deposited thin film solid lubricants. The lubricants are of two types: the low-shear metal lubricants, such as silver and lead, and the laminar-shearing compound materials-such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The low-shear metal lubricants are usd in high-torque applications such as the rotating anodes in X-ray tubes. Low-shear compound materials are used in mechanical bearing applications in vacuum and where lubricant "creep" can be a problem. Because only a very thin film is needed for lubrication, the application of metal-containing carbon (Me-C) are used to reduce wear in mechanical contact applications.*

Automotive
In recent years the importance of fuel economy has become ever more important due to rising energy costs. Consequently, the major automotive companies have increased their focus on weight reduction and energy loss due to friction. These factors are two of the most important problems in motor-sports and it should be noted that sports such as Formula 1, where unit cost is less important than performance improvement, were the first to look at PVD coatings as an alternative to the traditional hard chrome.
In addition to performance enhancement, PVD coating can also be applied to the decorative aspect of automotives. In 1987, Cadillac developed the first gold trim program with the goal of providing a durable and consistently engineered finish for its customers. Since then, there have been more advancements in the PVD industry, such as the coating of ABS plastic, and other "un-coatable" material, in yesterday's standard. Looking into the crystal ball, one sees a bright future for PVD coating. The process offers many exciting prospects for new coatings of both color and performance.

*. Mattox, Donald. "Applications of Vacuum Coating". SVC. 29 Dec. 2003. Date of Access (09 May 2005)

Surface treatments used in daily manufacturing of parts for the automotive industry are selected to serve functional and decorative requirements achieved by mass production. Increased loads (mechanical, thermal, etc.), longer lifetime, weight reduction, friction reduction, and corrosion resistance are demanded for modern automotive systems. These demands are driven by depleting fossil fuel resources, economic competitiveness and environmental concerns, and have compelled exploration into new avenues to improve efficiency of automotive engines. Several classes of coating and alternative materials have been explored in the past decades and many more are currently researched. The motivation behind this research is to allow engines to operate at high temperatures with reduced external cooling. The reduction in engine weight to improve fuel efficiency has been partially realized by replacing the conventional cast iron engine blocks with aluminum-silicon crankcases.

More and more, surface enhancement engineering solutions are becoming the goal of the automotive industry in reduction of wear, friction and corrosion for powertrain parts and engine interiors. These engineered coatings are also applied for interior and exterior decoration. However, inadequate wear resistance and low seizure loads have prevented the traditional surface enhancement methods direct usage in the cylinder bores. The cylinder bore/piston and piston ring friction constitute nearly all of the piston systems friction losses. A major portion of oil consumption arises from bore distortion and poor piston ring sealing resulting from ring and bore wear. It could also be caused by the start of ignition where oil has not spread over entire surface.

Low friction coating in an internal combustion (IC) engine is an ideal feature that significantly helps the enginefs fuel economy. The major sources of friction are valve train, piston system, and crank and bearing systems. The piston system accounts for 50-65% of the total friction loss, while valve train contributes to 10-20%. Crank and bear systems contribute considerably less.

Corrosion Resistance

Engine components are subject to severe chemical corrosion from engine oil, lubricant, and other combustion residues. The high temperature cycles would sometimes cause diesel engine and internal combustion (IC) engines to produces sulfuric and formic acid under certain conditions.

Wear resistance/Tribological property Coatings have been applied to improve the wear resistance of the Aluminum engine parts, placing them on a comparable level to their cast iron counter part.

Heat transfer/insulation Heat transfer to the block is kept to an absolute minimum, since this represents heat loss, this is done through a class of coating known as Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC). In the case of cooling components where heat transfer is preferred, inclusive research has been done to explore the option.





Previous Next

Eclat Industries Inc.

Home | Products | Quality | What's New | Learn More
Copyright 2004-2005 Eclat Industries Inc.. All rights reserved.

ECLAT Industries, Inc.
1604 Hanford Street
Levittown, PA 19057

Phone: 215 547-2684
Toll Free: 888 282-9411
Fax: 215 547-2475

web: www.eclatcoating.com

email: sales@eclatcoating.com